Robyn Davidson and Mia Wasikowska make ‘Tracks’
In the March 2014 issue of The Monthly Magazine, Gail Bell meets the author of the iconic book Tracks, and the actress who plays her in the film of the same name. In “When Robyn met Mia”, Gail interviews Robyn Davidson and Mia Wasikowska on the eve of the Australian premiere of the film.
Wasikowska read the Tracks script before she came to the book. “My parents, when I told them I’d got the script, they were like, ‘You’ve got to do the part, she’s a legend.’ Then I read the book and I knew immediately who Robyn was, or felt I had an understanding of her. I was sort of desperate to play her then.”
To Holland and Back with van Gogh: In search of home
In The Summer Issue of The Monthly Magazine December 2013-January 2014, Gail Bell journeys back in time to her years spent in Holland, living on a farm with her first husband, a native of Friesland. In Lowlands: To Holland and back with van Gogh she remembers the deep connection she felt to the art of Vincent van Gogh, and her efforts to create a home in a small rural village.
In a shipping crate that had come halfway round the world I’d packed the possessions without which I could not live: my library of essential books, special fountain pens and bottles of ink, the kind of paper I like to write on, art prints, favourite bookmarks, the small buddhas and the glass cat that sit on my desk, my collection of glass rings, the many small Chinese boxes that serve no useful purpose.
Friends at Sea
In a feature article “Friends at Sea” in The Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend Magazine 23 November 2013, as well as The Age in Melbourne on 26 October 2013, Gail Bell reflects on an ocean voyage that reveals much about herself and her first marriage.
View the article (PDF, 94kb): Friends at Sea
Jim Sterba’s ‘Nature Wars’
In the September 2013 edition of The Monthly Magazine, Gail Bell reviews a new book for Arts and Letters: Nature Wars, American author Jim Sterba’s report on the latest developments in the age-old clash between humans and nature. “Home Invasions” looks at the Australian experience of wildlife moving into our cities and suburbs.
Possums drop like cannonballs onto the tin roof and race each other to their night feasts. A blue-tongue lizard feeds on my small strawberry patch. Bush rats, funnelwebs and water dragons never give up their quests to live indoors with us. Isn’t this what tree-changers hanker after? A benign cohabitation with nature? Well, yes and no.
Paseo del Prado
In the December 2012-January 2013 issue of The Monthly Magazine, Gail Bell writes for the summer reading section, Hitting the Road, where she recounts her recent experience of being robbed in Madrid.
Paseo del Prado describes a few hours spent watching Spain’s annual Day of the Armed Forces in an atmosphere of passionate national pride.
“Viva España was barely off my lips when I looked down and saw the gaping empty vault and knew instantly the money was gone.”
The Logic of Water: Meeting the Martu artists of the East Pilbara
In the October 2012 edition of The Monthly Magazine, Gail Bell writes about her recent experiences in the Gibson Desert of Western Australia for the special Arts Issue of the magazine.
Editor John van Tiggelen: “In ‘The Logic of Water’, Gail Bell visits the Martu painters of the East Pilbara and finds an art built of history, genealogy, geography and myth.”
In the part shade behind a large shed where the painting supplies are kept, about 15 Martu women in floral skirts and purple beanies are bent over their work. They sit on a tarp spread over the red dirt. I take my place on the ground and try to blend in.
Reading to the Dying
In the September 2012 edition of The Monthly Magazine, Gail Bell writes for the newly created VOX column. Editor John van Tiggelen writes:
Gail Bell wonders what she can do for a friend who is nearing the end of her life, and finds her answer in the pages of Austen and Hopkins.
After the others had said their goodbyes, I picked up Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen had been dragged into all kinds of strange embraces – zombies, vampires, werewolves – why not palliation?
Quiet, Please: CityRail’s ‘Quiet Carriages’ Trial
In the May 2012 edition of The Monthly Magazine, Gail Bell writes about her experience of travelling to Sydney in the front carriage of a commuter train that is part of an experiment in quiet travel. As she writes in “Quiet, please”, “passengers are asked to refrain from loud conversations, using mobile phones and playing loud music”.
“In the gentle rocking embrace of my window seat I lapse into a trance. My eyes feel bigger. The visual world skims by…The clickety-clack conjures up childhood and having my hand held by a parent.”
As Robert Was Saying: In conversation with Robert Dessaix
In the March 2012 issue of The Monthly Magazine, Gail Bell interviews and profiles the celebrated Australian author, Robert Dessaix.
“On the eve of the release of his new book, As I Was Saying, Dessaix reflects on the beautiful things in his life – his home in Tasmania, his travels, his writing and his loved ones – and takes solace in a newfound discovery of a single, well spent day.” John van Tiggelen, editor.
“In certain lights, his high forehead and robust white hair remind me of Beckett without the etched anger lines. The absence of visible anger in Dessaix’s face may be the result of his new “live for now” philosophy, just as it may be the genetic gift of those green eyes.”
“In the Ratroom” selected for Best Australian Essays 2011, edited by Ramona Koval
‘Turn the page and hear the voices within …’—Ramona Koval
The Best Australian Essays 2011 offers up bliss and illumination in equal measure – from the pleasures of the flesh to the events that convulsed the world in a year of change. Paul Kelly meditates on Frank Sinatra, and Robert Manne excavates the past and thoughts of Julian Assange. Inga Clendinnen dreams on cricket memories, and Anna Krien delves into the saga of the St Kilda schoolgirl. There is Peter Robb on Italian food, Anthony Lane on News of the World, Gail Bell on rats and Richard Flanagan on photography. This is a collection with something for everyone that never wavers in its quality.
Contributors include: Gillian Mears, David Malouf, Nicolas Rothwell, Robert Manne, Anthony Lane, M.J. Hyland, Craig Sherborne, Anna Krien, Inga Clendinnen, Gail Bell, Helen Elliott, Morris Lurie, Maria Tumarkin, Andrew Sant, Shakira Hussein, Lian Hearn, Amanda Lohrey, Paul Kelly, Peter Robb, Clive James, Delia Falconer, Richard Flanagan and Andrew O’Hagan.
Pub date: November 2011
RRP: $29.95
ISBN: 9781863955478
Imprint: Black Inc.
Format: PB
Extent: 320pp
Reviews & Interviews: Read an interview with Ramona Koval on the Black Inc. blog
Buy the ebook: Readings | iBookstore